O
Catalyst | On Topic
T
olstoy observed that “each
unhappy family is unhappy
in its own way”. The same
might be said of businesses. It
won’t be news to many that a
large number of organisations
around the world are facing a
crisis in employee engagement.
According to Gallup, 85% of the world’s
employees are not engaged. The gaping hole in
contentment has been attributed to a variety of
factors ranging from poor relationships with line
managers; employees not feeling valued; a deficit
of corporate moral fibre; a withering work-life
balance; lack of parity over pay; poor opportunities
to develop; a lack of inclusivity, or simply that
many workers no longer understand what they
are meant to be doing each day.
But in a service-based economy, having sullen
workers who stolidly go through the motions is
no longer an option. Routine jobs will soon be
automated. In the roles that remain or are created,
empathy and creativity are set to become highly
prized characteristics. Employees need to feel (to
some extent at least) that they actually want to be
at work. And the more content they are, the better
the outcomes for the business.
Herein lies the problem. Improving something
as broad and intangible as ‘engagement’ is difficult.
On the other hand, breaking down engagement
into a series of tangible ‘employee experiences’
(or EX) is, for more and more companies, the new
direction of travel.
Accenture defines EX as the elements that
make up an employee’s experience at work,
which includes their physical, human and digital
experiences. In a recent study from The Future
Workplace and Beyond.com, 83% of HR leaders
said that ‘employee experience’ is either important
or very important to their organisation’s success,
and they are investing more in giving more rewards
(47%), improving their workspaces (51%), and
training (56%).
Heather Andrews, director of employee
experience at Legal & General Group, introduced
an EX strategy in 2018 that is closely aligned to
the organisation’s existing customer experience
strategy. “The critical thing about employee
experience is identifying key moments,” she says.
“We’re focusing on making sure we’re delivering
a high-quality onboarding experience. We’ve
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